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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

WEEKLY ROUNDUP Permanence – The Key Feature in Ukraine’s Destiny

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Over the past several years the financial crises every fall may have served to symbolize that “enigmatic Slavic mentality” – or nonetheless enigmatic Slavic (Ukrainian in particular) destiny. I remember how in 1993 the national currency lost weight threefold in a couple of days, followed by what was described as financial stabilization. Well, there is no flight from fate... The biggest problem about today’s crisis has nothing to do with inflation, devaluation, etc. And nor is it “impoverishing the masses,” because the masses simply cannot get more miserable than they already are. The problem is that fate shows its inevitability without adhering to any schedule, so people simply have no time to prepare or even brace themselves. Hence, I would like to ask all those responsible on high (should I say in Heaven?) to please work out just such a schedule and make it known to the toiling masses, so we would at least know when to expect another blow. I think this would suit all parties concerned.

The new session of Parliament began, opened by Speaker Tkachenko who cheered the audience by certain economic innovations. Among other things we discovered that we should feel happy about the absence of foreign investment, because if we had it our crisis would be even worse. The paradox of his thesis vanished toward the end of the week when Ukraine’s Chief Tax Collector Azarov explained that our taxation policy has an “investment character.” Now everything became clear. Why should we need foreign investors if we have our own, the more so that the latter are being taken such good care of by the Ukrainian tax police? As for the Speaker, some of the ideas he voiced are in sharp contrast with what the executive has to say, although Mr. Tkachenko is trying hard to cooperate with it (precisely in the economic sphere), calling for “concerted action” on the part of all the other political forces. Yet the most thrilling aspect is that the Speaker’s extremely sophisticated system of views (perhaps another manifestation of the mysterious Slavic character?) does not seem to surprise even political observers.

Similarly, no one was surprised by the Cabinet resolution about “additional measures” to pay pensions, instructing the leadership of regional and district state administrations to submit to local councils proposals concerning the “expediency of continuation in office” of mayors failing to pay budget debts. The fact that the Cabinet of Ministers calls on its subordinates to act contrary to the Constitution and other laws (a state administration has no jurisdiction over a duly elected mayor) fits nicely into the government’s idea of law and order. There is only one question: Where will all those mayors find the money, considering that they can give orders (as a pure formality that few pay any heed to) only to enterprises under communal ownership?

 

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